Progressive rock

Progressive rock (shortened to prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United States and United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s. Initially termed "progressive pop", the style emerged from psychedelic bands who abandoned standard pop or rock traditions in favour of instrumental and compositional techniques more commonly associated with jazz, folk, or classical music, while retaining the instrumentation typical of rock music. Additional elements contributed to its "progressive" label: lyrics were more poetic, technology was harnessed for new sounds, music approached the condition of "art", and the studio, rather than the stage, became the focus of musical activity, which often involved creating music for listening rather than dancing.

Progressive rock includes a fusion of styles, approaches and genres, and tends to be diverse and eclectic. Progressive rock is often associated with long solos, extended pieces, fantastic lyrics, grandiose stage sets and costumes, and an obsessive dedication to technical skill and virtuosity. While the genre is often cited for its merging of high culture and low culture, few artists incorporated Western classical themes in their work to a significant degree, with only a minority of groups (Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Renaissance, Ekseption, etc.) directly emulating or referencing classical music.

In the early to mid-1970s, progressive rock groups such as Pink Floyd and Yes experienced great worldwide success; in the late 1970s, it declined in popularity, and has never fully recovered. Conventional wisdom holds that the rise of punk rock caused this, but several more factors contributed to the decline. Music critics, who often labelled the style of progressive rock as "pretentious" and the sounds as "pompous" and "overblown", tended to be hostile towards the genre or to completely ignore it. After the late 1970s, progressive rock fragmented into numerous forms.